


Natural 20 (Fictober 2018 Challenge Series)

by faierieprince



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Campaign 2 (Critical Role), Campaign 2 (Critical Role) Spoilers, Fictober, Multi, fictober18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-07-28 12:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16241189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faierieprince/pseuds/faierieprince
Summary: Hi! Here are all of the daily drabbles I wrote for the fictober 2018 challenge! Each chapter is one of the days; the title is the prompt. Enjoy!





	1. "Can you feel this?"

“Can you feel this?” Beau asked, fingers gracing one of the skeletal wings coming from Yasha’s back.

Yasha was sitting on the edge of the ship, legs dangling over the edge. Her eyes were glazed over, staring at a far-off storm in the distance. As Beau approached, she shifted to watch her approach.

“Yes,” Yasha replied softly, looking away. “They’re just as much a part of me as your fists are a part of you.”

“Can I ask why you have them? I mean-” Beau stuttered, stumbling over the question, “- if it’s okay that I ask that. I don’t know. If you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s cool.”

“It’s fine.” Yasha sighed. She squeezed her eyes closed. Her fingers nervously fidgeted with a loose string on her belt. “It’s because of who, or what, I am. Aassimar… Well, I guess we’re part celestial. It expresses itself in weird ways. It’s why I have this,” she said, gesturing to the mark on her chin. “And it’s why I have wings. I don’t know why they’re skeletal.”

“I mean, it’s fitting.” Beau moved away from Yasha’s back, sitting down next to her on the edge of the ship. “You’ve got this whole like, goth thing going on. It’s cool. Kind of hot, if I’m being honest.”

Yasha smiled. It was small, soft, uncommon. Beau’s heart fluttered mildly at the sight.

“Thank you.”

“Welcome.”

Beau shifted again, sitting with one leg dangling and one knee up. Glancing at Yasha, she followed the barbarian’s gaze across to the storm. 

“…. Does this mean you’re leaving again?”

Yasha glanced at Beau, then looked down, chewing on her lip. “I don’t know. I just know the Stormlord calls me.”

Beau nodded, though she didn’t understand. She let her hand settle on Yasha’s, who didn’t pull away, and intertwined their fingers. 

“Your Stormlord sounds like kind of a dick, if I’m being honest.” Yasha laughed at that, a deep, throaty laugh. Beau smiled. “He’s always calling you at shitty times. Maybe you should ask for a break.” 

Beau sighed, swallowing. “I guess what I’m saying is that I don’t want you to go. But I get that you have to. So just like. Come back, okay?”

“I always seem to find you, don’t I?” Yasha asked, serious again. She squeezed Beau’s fingers.

“I guess you do.”

“Then I will again. We’ll always end up back together.”


	2. "People like you have no imagination."

“People like you have no imagination, Beauregard.”

“I have imagination!” Beau protested. “It’s just this seems…. I don’t know, fucking stupid?”

Caleb ignored her, instead choosing to sit down and begin casting the spell.

“Caleb’s not stupid,” Nott replied. A small grin was beginning to spread across her face, with devilish glint in her eyes.

“I didn’t say Caleb was stupid, I said  _this_ was stupid.” Beau sighed, pinching her nose. She turned to Fjord. “And you, why are you encouraging this?”

Fjord shrugged. “If you got a better idea I’m all ears. Otherwise, this seems vaguely promising, and it’s better than the boat.”

“ _How_ on  _earth_ is this  _better_ than the boat?!”

“… I mean, we stole the boat. The boat has a hole in it. People know what the boat looks like. This is better.”

“We hired a crew!”

“And they get a free boat! It’s a win-win!” Nott interjected.

Beau sat down at this point, defeated. “Whatever. This is definitely less conspicuous than a  _stolen boat.”_

 _“_ I mean, I’m not saying it’s less conspicuous, but it’s at least faster,” Fjord argued, a pink tinge covering his cheeks and ears. 

At this point, Caleb finished his casting. And, rather than a cat, they suddenly had a very large, very orange, dragon-shaped Frumpkin. 

Somehow he still meowed.


	3. "How can I trust you?"

“How can I trust you?” Nott was still cowered gently in the corner, fidgeting with the ring in her nose.

“I don’t know,” Caleb replied. “But I’m not sure you have much of a choice. These people, they do not like goblins. These people, they apparently do not like me. So it seems we have something in common, no? So perhaps you can trust the commonality between us, and once we are out of this shithole, we can reevaluate this concept of trust between us.”

Nott sneered. “ _Don’t_ compare me to  _them._ What’s to say you don’t just use me to get out of this cell then give me over to a mob? Again,  _how can I trust you?”_

“Fine, do not trust me. Rot in this goddamn cell, with no whiskey, no baubles, no quality food-”

“There’s rats here, they’re good,” Nott interjected. Caleb made a face at that, and sighed.

“Aside from the rats,” Caleb said, kneeling down, “what do you have going for you here? It is literally a jail cell. There is nothing here for us. But out there… Out there we can make a life. We can be a team. We can move through this world and take whatever it has to offer. I don’t know how to make you trust me, but if you name it I will do it.”

Nott paused for a moment, uncomfortable with this sudden intensity. “Draw a mustache on yourself.”

“What?”

“Give yourself a really stupid mustache.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, but stuck his finger into the muck on the ground. He brought it up to his face and traced a curlicue mustache beneath his nose. “Satisfied?”

Nott giggled. “Okay. You promise I get lots of gold.” Not paused, extending her hand briefly, then retracting it slightly. “And you make me…. Not like this.”

Caleb looked taken aback. “You do not wish to be a goblin?”

“No.”

“Then I will try to learn whatever I can to fulfill that desire. Until then, maybe we can find you a little mask. Is that enough? You can have the gold, if I can have books. I have to learn how to change you somehow, afterall.” Caleb offered his hand.

“Deal,” Nott replied. Rather than grabbing the extended hand, she adjusted it and clasped his pinky in hers. “This means you’re promising to help me. And I’m promising to take care of you. You can’t break a pinky promise.”

Caleb smiled. “Alright. Pinky promise.”

“Send out the cat, get me something to pick the lock. Get ready to light this shithole up. Let’s get out of here, Mr. Caleb.”


	4. "Will that be all?"

“Will that be all? We have other priorities, you know.” Beau was standing, arms crossed, standing in front of a group of guards. The rest of the party stood with the cart behind her. These guards had insisted on searching their goods on top of an already hefty bribe, and Beau was just about fed up with it.

With a glance, the guards stepped aside, allowing them access to the city gates. 

“Fucking finally.” 

As they passed into the city, the Mighty Nein were watched very closely. Yet still, they passed. 

Caleb and Mollymauk sat in the back of the cart, leaning against each other in their exhaustion. Had it been intentional, it might have been a romantic sort of gesture, but in this moment it was more out of necessity than anything else.

The party approached an inn and roused the pair from their sleep, Nott gently brushing Caleb’s hair from his eyes and awakening him. Caleb and Molly lifted themselves out of the cart and made their way with the rest of the party into the interior of the inn. The purchased three rooms, and went to split up. 

Jester declared it to be a ‘girl’s night’ and insisted Nott, Beau, and Yasha room with her. Fjord quickly retreated to his own room, indicating that he would prefer to be alone, leaving the final room to Caleb and Molly.

“You will have to pardon me, I am not used to rooming with anyone but Nott,” Caleb said quietly as they settled in. The room had only one bed, so Caleb had begun laying out his bedroll on the floor. This had been the normal fashion with Nott, as he preferred to leave her to the comforts of the bed.

“Come now, Caleb, this bed is big enough for two. Don’t get shy on me now.” Molly gave his eyebrows a little waggle, smirking from his position on the bed. 

A blush crept across Caleb’s cheeks. “I, uh, I don’t, uh, Mollymauk-”

“Caleb, Caleb, I mean this in the  _most_ innocent of manners. It is simply cruel for me to ask you to sleep on the floor, and I certainly won’t, so let us share this  _lovely_ feather bed. Don’t be modest.” Molly’s smirk deepened. “I’ve already seen you naked, after all.” 


	5. "Take what you need."

“You know, Nott, you can take whatever you need. But I need you to  _ask_ first.” Fjord seemed perturbed, knowing that Nott had gone through his bags the past few nights. 

“We’re a group, now, which means that we share what we have. But it requires trust. And you breaking into our room, stealing our things, and thinking you will never get caught is not displaying any level of trust,” Molly added, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “What were you even looking for?”

“That doesn’t matter now, does it,” Nott said sheepishly, looking away as her ears turned red. “I’m just gunna go-”

“No you are not. First you’re going to promise that you’ll never, ever steal from one of us again. Then you’re going to promise to ask me if you need anything.” Fjord sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Nott, I’m always here for you. I’m always here for any of us. But you can’t just go breaking my trust like that.”

“Okay. I promise,” Nott replied, extending a pinky.

–

Nott couldn’t sleep, recalling that conversation. Remembering how disappointed Fjord and Molly had been in her. And yet, both of them continued to hide things from the group. Molly’s secrets followed him to the grave, yet they still seemed to haunt the party. Fjord’s secrets were actively affecting each and every one of them, yet he couldn’t bring himself to be completely honest.

Nott wondered what she might find if she dug in his bag again. Another orb? More weird eyes? Deeper secrets? What would she find out about Fjord?

He had said that she could take whatever she needed, and wondered if that still applied. She wondered if she asked to poke around what he would say.

Nott knew she couldn’t go looking around any of her friend’s things without asking. Fjord was right, it was a violation of trust and an invasion of privacy. Plus, she had pinky promised. And you never broke a pinky promise.


	6. "I heard enough, this ends now."

“I heard enough,” Caleb snarled. The flames from his fingertips reflected in his eyes and throughout his hair. “This ends  _now.”_

In front of him stood Trent Ikithon, broken, bleeding, yet somehow still smirking.

Trent coughed up some blood, smearing it with the back of his hand. “Oh, you think you’ve had enough, have you, Widogast? When we first met you told me you could never hear enough of what I had to teach you. Where did that bright-eyed boy go, I wonder? Did he get lost amidst all these pathetic fools he surrounded himself with in an attempt to alleviate his guilt?” Trent laughed, spattering up blood as he did. “You’re pathetic, you know that? You had all the makings of a great wizard, Caleb, you really did. But you just had to go and let your feelings get in the way.”

“Feelings have made me a better person, a better wizard than you will ever be,” Caleb spat back, tears in his eyes. Slowly, he felt the support of his friends around him. Nott’s small hand wrapped around his, giving his fingers a squeeze to let him know she was there for him. Fjord rested a hand on his shoulder, as did Yasha. He could see Beau and Jester in his peripheral vision, standing to either side of him, and Caduceus just beyond that. “And these people - my friends - they have done more to teach me than you ever could. They are far from pathetic. You are the one who is pathetic, relying on brainwashed children to do your dirty work. You should be ashamed.”

“Oh should I? Am I the one who killed my-” Trent didn’t even finish his sentence before Caleb was blasting him to smithereens. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the dirt across his skin. He screamed as he fell to his knees, flames bursting out of his hands at the man who ruined him. 

When Ikithon was nothing but a pile of ash on the ground, Caleb fell into a puddle of sobs. Nott wrapped her arms around him. Beau awkwardly added herself next, and Jester and the rest of the Mighty Nein soon followed suit.

It didn’t feel as good as he hoped it would. In fact, it was making him feel so many feelings he hadn’t expected. And yet, there was warmth and love, pouring in from his friends. And somehow, Caleb knew he would be okay. There was no need to retreat, or run away. These people - the Mighty Nein - would support him through this, and he would support them in return.


	7. "No worries, we still have time."

Beau pulled her hair out of its bun, running her fingers through it. She sighed gently and sat down on the edge of her bed.

A soft knock announced a presence at the door to her quarters. Glancing up, she saw Yasha standing there, taking up the entirety of the space.

“Can I-” She paused, clearing her throat. “Can I come in?”

Beau smiled. “Hi, Yasha. Yeah, please.” Beau scooted over, creating space on the bed next to her.

Yasha sat down next to her. She looked up at Beau, and brushed a loose lock of hair out of her face. A slow blush crept across both of their faces.

“You, uh, you look good with your hair down,” Yasha muttered, looking away sheepishly.

Beau laughed. “Thanks.” She reached down and intertwined her fingers with Yasha’s. They were rough and calloused, even more so than Beau’s own. Yet they were also warm, protective. They made Beau feel safe.

There was a silence between them, but it was a comfortable silence. Beau rested her head on Yasha’s shoulder, and Yasha let her head lay on Beau’s.

“Yasha?”

“Yes, Beau?”

“How long are you going to be here? I mean, are you going to leave again?”

Yasha frowned, eyebrows knitting together slightly. “I don’t know how long. I know I probably will leave again, but I’ll be back. You know that, right?”

“… Yeah.” Beau sighed, squeezing Yasha’s hand. Yasha squeezed back. “I just…. I don’t want to lose what we have, you know? I mean…. I don’t want to lose… you. I guess. I’m actually kind of happy right now. With you. And I’ve never really had the opportunity to feel like this and I just… I’m not ready for it to go yet. I mean, I’m not ready for you to go yet.”

“I know,” Yasha said softly. “But, no worries. We still have time. We have time.”


	8. "I know you do."

Generally, Caleb avoided being open about his past and his feelings with others, but he had been growing more accustomed to it since joining the Mighty Nein. They all had, he thought, growing from feeling aloof with one another to feeling more comfortable sharing. 

And yet, here he was, sitting with Nott and afraid to speak. If anything, he should feel more comfortable speaking about his feelings with Nott. She knew more about him than any other member of the Mighty Nein, maybe even than any other person in this world. He knew he could trust Nott. But he still hesitated.

Nott knew something was off with Caleb. It wasn’t unusual for the pair to sit alone in silence, just enjoying each others’ company, but something was different this time. Caleb was too quiet. He wouldn’t make eye contact. He seemed sadder than usual, and like he felt unsafe somehow.

“… Caleb?” Nott asked softly, worry plain on her face. Caleb didn’t look up, instead looking away. She could see the tears welling in his eyes. “Caleb, what’s wrong? You can tell me.”

“I know, Nott,” Caleb replied. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t feel right, anymore.”

Nott’s eyebrows crinkled. “How so?”

Caleb sighed. “I…. I miss Molly.”

“I know you do, we all do.”

“No, Nott, I… He and I… I think I loved him, Nott. I don’t know how to approach that. I don’t know how to feel any small range of emotion, so the concept of love is difficult for me, but I think I loved him. And now he’s gone. He sacrificed himself so we could save Jester and Fjord and Yasha, and we failed at that. And this guilt is burning a hole inside of me that I cannot ignore. We should have at least succeeded if he was going to sacrifice himself, but we didn’t. I didn’t. I failed him. I… Couldn’t save him. What am I supposed to do if I cannot save those I love? I know that in a way I love you, what if something happens to you and I cannot save you? How do people go on like this?” 

The tears were flowing freely down Caleb’s face now, and sobs burst forward from his chest as he finished speaking. Nott pulled him into her arms, letting him sob against her. She didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure what to say. This was more than she had heard from Caleb in so long, and it just sort of burst out of him. So Nott simply resorted to soothing him, relying on her motherly instincts. She could respond later. 


	9. "You shouldn't have come here."

“You shouldn’t have come here, Beauregard,” Caleb said softly, kneeling in the dirt. 

“Caleb, what is this place?” Beau asked. 

Caleb didn’t reply. 

“Caleb, you know I had to follow you. You can’t just go sulking off. People worry about you.” Beau paused, then stepped forward, resting her hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “I’m worried about you, Caleb.”

Caleb sighed, leaning back against Beau’s legs. “This.... This used to be my home.”

“Wait. Like, this is where you grew up? This is wear you...” Beau trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging. 

“Where I killed my parents? Yes, Beauregard.”

Beau inhaled sharply through her teeth, exhaling slowly. “Wow, Caleb.”

“... Yeah.”

“Why did you come back here?”

“I don’t know. Just with everything with Mollymauk and whatnot it just... Felt like I needed to come back.”

“Caleb, you know that wasn’t your fault right?”

“Wasn’t it, though? In what way was this not my fault, Beauregard?”

Beau sighed, kneeling down beside Caleb and draping an arm across his shoulders. “Listen, Caleb. It’s hard to come to terms with our shitty pasts. I know that more than anyone. But what happened here, what happened to you.... It’s that asshole Ikithon’s fault, not you. You were literally brainwashed, Caleb. So if you have to be angry, be angry at him, not yourself. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be upset with yourself. But don’t get angry at yourself for things that you did when you were a kid who was being controlled by a manipulative ass.” 

Again, Caleb didn’t respond. Beau could feel the sobs wracking his body. She awkwardly patted his shoulder. “I’m not good at this whole comforting thing, but if you need anything, I’m here for you, okay?”

“... Okay.” Caleb sighed, and wiped his eyes. “Thank you, Beauregard. I’m glad to call you a friend.”


	10. "You think this troubles me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I am so sorry this is a day late! I have been struggling the past few days!  
> Also note this chapter has spoilers for Campaign 2 Episode 37 (the NYCC liveshow). And some uhhhhhh slight adult/flirty themes.

“You think this troubles me?” Avantika said, laughing as she did so, a deep, hearty laugh which gave Fjord butterflies. She poured two glasses of whisky, handing one to Fjord, and leaned back against her desk. “Fjord, if anything, the knowledge that the blessing has made its way to another pleases me deeply. It means that I have someone who can understand what I have gone through, and who I know I can trust.”

“Is that so?” Fjord mused, sipping his drink. “You would trust me so quickly?”

Avantika shrugged. “But of course. If Uk’otoa deems you worthy, then who am I to question his glorious judgement?”

She set her drink down on the desk, stepping up to Fjord and taking one of his hands in hers. “You and I, Fjord, are two of a kind,” she said softly, tracing the lines of his palm. She slowly removed the glove off of her hand, and the scarf from her neck. Despite Fjord’s hesitation, she pressed his hand to the eye upon her chest and pressed upon that with the eye in her palm. “Can you feel it, Fjord? Can you feel the power of Uk’otoa, the power which flows within and between us?”

Fjord was blushing pink at the ears and across his cheeks, breathing heavily. “Y-yes, I-”

He was cut off by Avantika’s lips pressing to his, all fluid heat. He responded in kind, pressing himself closer to her, before breaking away. There was a fire in her eyes, and a heat in his chest.

Something was here, deeper than lust, deeper than anything he had felt before. It was raw  _power_ , flowing between the two of them like the waves of the sea. 

Fjord summoned the falchon, and briefly thought to press it to her throat, before pressing the eye on the hilt to the eye on Avantika’s chest.

The air was electric. They were both breathing heavily, maintaining heated eye contact. 

-

From the other room, the others were hanging on Caleb’s every word. “Holy fucking shit, this is the weirdest foreplay I have ever seen.”


	11. "But I will never forget!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this drabble is so short, but enjoy something cute.

“... But I will never forget!” Nott loudly proclaimed, ale flying out of her mug as she got a little too excited. The rest of the Mighty Nein, and several other bar patrons, erupted into laughter.

Nott had gone on a drunken tirade about Nugget, for some reason. Her rant had focused on how much she supposedly loved the puppy and definitely never wanted to eat it, and how much she missed it.

Caleb leaned over to Beau. “Does she think Nugget is dead?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Beau replied, taking a swig from her own tankard and suppressing a chuckle. “Should we tell her?”

“No, no, this is good.” Caleb finished off his tankard, waving for another round. 

Jester was looking on confused as she sipped her milk, and watched Nugget blink into existence in front of her. She looked between Nugget and Nott repeatedly, and opened her mouth to tell Nott that Nugget was fine before Beau covered her mouth. 

It was a good night, a simple night. They didn’t have any urgent quests demanding their attention, they had time, which was a rare luxury. 

Beau rested her head against Yasha’s soldier, a smile on her face. Jester leaned against Fjord, giggling as Nugget chased his tail. 

It was nice, to take a break. They deserved it.


	12. "Who could do this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry the 12th-16th are so late! I wasn't feeling great, but hopefully I can get back on top of things. :)

“Who could do this?” Jester sobbed, holding tightly to Molly’s jacket. “Who could hurt Molly like that?”

She didn’t expect an answer. She didn’t  _need_ an answer. She knew who did this; after all, he had tortured her and nearly taken her own life. 

Beau rested her hand on Jester’s shoulder, trying to provide some minor modicum of support as tears streamed down her own cheeks. Jester leaned back into Beau, hugging one of the monk’s legs. 

Each member of the Mighty Nein stood there, tears rolling down their cheeks. Caleb and Nott held one another, both minimally demonstrating emotion beyond the tear stains and the tight grips with which they held one another. Fjord stood next to Jester and Beau, but seemed completely lost in his own pain, his own thoughts. Holding Molly’s sword in his hands, he nearly cut himself with how hard he was shaking. Caduceus wasn’t crying, per-say, but he had a single tear streak from all the emotions surrounding him. 

Yasha was the standout. She was silent initially, standing over the hasty grave, shaking. There were tears initially, which turned into body racking sobs, which turned into a scream. Her wings burst forth from her back, shocking the rest of the group. Then she simply left, refusing to speak to her companions, though they knew she would return in time.

Of all the things Lorenzo had done to them, this seemed the worst to them all. He had taken a beautiful soul, one who deserved a much fuller life than he had been given. And that was simply.... unforgivable.  


	13. "Try harder, next time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm catching up on days 12-16, so bear with me! :)

Beau sat back on the floor, chest heaving. Dairon stood over her, staff poised against her throat. 

“Try harder, next time,” Dairon said, stepping back. She was calm, cool, and collected.

Beau wiped the sweat from her forehead, standing back up and taking a defensive position. “You say that like it’s easy.”

Dairon cocked her head, smiling slightly. “It is easy, Beauregard. I’ve seen what you can do. You’ve been holding back every time we have trained. And if you’re holding back, it means you can try harder. And until you do, you will never be successful. The best student puts everything she has into every trial that is placed before her. So, take a breath, and  _try harder.”_

Beau took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and steadying herself. When she opened her eyes, they continued her training. She gave it everything, putting all the techniques she had learned during her time under the Cobalt Soul into her responses to Dairon. And that training was evident - she was able to combat the majority of her strikes, and learn from her mistakes.

As a monk she was improving. As a student, she was learning. As a person, she was growing. 

Beau truly was beginning to cut an impressive figure.


	14. "Some call this wisdom."

Molly flipped another tarot card down on the table, explaining its significance to Jester. 

Nott leaned over to Caleb. “What, exactly, do the cards mean?”

“Some people call this wisdom,” Caleb replied, sitting back in his chair. “I call it a trick of the fingers and a manipulation of gentle souls.”

Nott took a sip from her drink, mulling over Caleb’s words. “So it’s not real? It’s just a card trick?”

Caleb shrugged slightly. “Depends on your perspective. Could these cards hold some ability to tell a fortune, or help enhance a person’s ability to do so? Perhaps. But I am not convinced that this is what the circus man is doing. The way his fingers flicker and move through the cards.... I am not convinced he is being honest with the cards he draws. I think he is looking at Jester and deciding what cards he can make her believe apply to her life so that she gives him money and supports his business. It is quite clever, if I am being honest.”

“If it’s fake, shouldn’t we say something?” Nott asked, a frown knitting its way through her eyebrows and across her face. “Isn’t it wrong for us to let her be duped?”

“I do not think so. He does not seem malicious. She is genuinely invested in this, and interested. I think that it would be crueler for us to break the magic of this for her than to let her be fooled.” Caleb shrugged, taking a long pull from his tankard. “You could probably learn a thing or two from him, Nott. Clearly he is fancy with his fingers. Perhaps he can help you learn some tricks to picking pockets. I think we should befriend him.”

A smile spread across Nott’s face, under her mask. Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “I think that is a great idea, Caleb.”


	15. "I thought you had forgotten."

Yasha’s eyebrows shot up as Beau handed her the box. “I thought you had forgotten,” she said softly, with a smile. Opening the box, she found a ribbon that matched the one in Beau’s hair, attached to a gold ring. Yasha looked up at Beau quizzically. 

Beau was bright red, switching between looking off to the side and monitoring Yasha’s reaction. “Of course I remembered,” she replied quietly. “I mean, how could I forget the best day of my life? You finally reciprocated my stupid flirting.” 

The blush was intensifying on Beau’s face as a light blush overtook Yasha’s. Her smile deepened as she pulled the ribbon out, holding it in her fingers. 

“But, I mean... I want this to become the best day of my life,” Beau continued. She reached out and took one of Yasha’s hands in hers. “I’m not really great at this romantic, corny shit but.... I mean.... Look, I love you. You know that. And I want to be able to love you forever. And I mean, I don’t know if you’re the marriage type, I mean I didn’t think I was, but when I met you I just... I knew. So I want to. If you want to. And I’m not saying we have to wear the rings, we’re both really physical people, but maybe we can just have matching rings in the ribbons and... I mean it sounds stupid now that I say it, but-”

She was interrupted by Yasha pulling her close for a kiss. It was deep, passionate, full of love. When she pulled away, Beau seemed surprised, somehow, as though she didn’t expect Yasha to accept. And yet, as Beau had rambled, Yasha had already braided the ribbon and ring into her hair. “Of course I want to marry you, silly.”

A big grin spread across Beau’s face. She kissed Yasha again, and again, and again. 

And that day truly did become the happiest day of her life.


	16. "This is gonna be so fun!"

“This is gonna be  _so_  fun,” Jester said with a grin. She began to cast disguise self, dressing herself very overdramatically as a pirate. It was like so many of her fantasies rolled into one, and she could not have been more excited. hat is, aside from the fact that she had to leave her mother and Nugget. 

Caduceus similarly lit up upon seeing Jester’s transformation, thinking that he would have a little fun with his appearance. He went less dramatic than Jester, sticking to more conservative pirate garb, but still added some flair to his shirt and scarf. 

“Why did it have to be pirates?” Caleb lamented, throwing up over the side of the ship. Nott held his hair back for him, as she shifted her own garb into a more pirate-like fashion, and gave herself a very large hat. 

Beau smiled and leaned against Yasha, who was holding up some ropes. The pair of them watched the other members play with their appearances with ill-concealed joy.

Fjord sighed. This was not exactly what he had intended when they went down to the docks, but apparently they were pirates now. Jester was watching him expectantly, so he shifted his own appearance to be more like a pirate, with an open shirt and large jacket, as well as a big, feather hat. Jester immediately ran over to him, and he caught her in his arms with a quizzical look in his eyes. She placed a hand on his chest and began muttering something about an ‘Oscar’ and Fjord rolled his eyes with a small smile.

Perhaps it would be fun.


	17. "I'll tell you, but you're not gonna like it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caught up again! Thank you for bearing with me during the brief hiatus!

“I’ll tell you but you’re not gonna like it,” Beau said quietly, cradling one arm.

Yasha gave her a pointed glance and began to tend to the wounds that scattered Beau’s body. She had a deep gouge in her arm, and was covered in smaller marks and scratches. One eye was blackened and swollen. Clearly, something big had happened, and Beau was keeping it from her. 

Beau sighed, then winced as Yasha cleansed her wounds. “I’m not going to apologize, if that’s what you want.”

“You know it isn’t.”

Beau looked away guiltily. “So, you know I’ve been training with the monks of the Cobalt Soul, yeah?”

“Mmhmm,” Yasha replied, wrapping the wound on her arm. “But these trainings usually don’t leave you broken and bleeding, leaving me to find you on the street bleeding out.”

“Yeah,” Beau said, wincing as Yasha applied some sort of salve to her eye. “But I felt like I needed more. I felt like I needed to practice my skills in a more practical manner, so that I’m more useful in a fight.”

“You’re already useful in a fight.” Yasha pressed a chunk of cold meat against the swollen eye. 

“Yeah, well, I wanted to be  _better._ So, I found some dudes who were harassing this nice lady. And like, I’m never  _not_ going to get involved in a situation like that, so I figured I would step in. And I held my own for a while, but then they called in some other guys and they, uh...”

“Beat the shit out of you?”

Beau smiled slightly. “Yeah.”

Yasha sighed. “You’re so reckless. You could have asked me to back you up. You know I am always willing to fight some assholes, and I would rather help you than have to patch you up afterwards or pray I don’t find your corpse.”

Beau nodded, a guilty look plain on her face. “You’re right, you’re right. I just thought I needed to do it alone, but you have a point. We’re better together.”

“Yes we are,” Yasha replied, a small smile spreading across her lips.

Beau leaned forward and kissed Yasha gently. She pressed her forehead to the barbarian’s. “I won’t do it again, okay. Sometimes I forget that I have things worth living for now. Can you forgive me?”

“I forgive you.”

Yasha pressed her lips to Beau’s again, then pulled away to finish tending to her wounds.


	18. "You should have seen it."

“God, Yasha, you should have seen it.” Beau was laying across Yasha’s lap as Yasha played with her hair, braiding a ribbon into it. Beau was talking animatedly, all hands and dramatic expressions. “So first we get through the gates, right? And they have all this  _crazy_ security in place. And they’re searching carts, which we didn’t expect - and our new cart had this like enchantment or whatever on it so the inside was invisible. But we finally pay off the guards and get through, and we figure it’s all good, right? Nope! Fucking giants!”

Yasha chuckled at the facial journey Beau was taking. She clipped a ring around the end of the braid, and began running her fingers through the rest of Beau’s hair. “That does sound pretty crazy.”

Beau grinned. “So Caleb makes me into big Beau, right, Swole-regard.” Yasha laughed at that. “And then I’m just like - Pop! Pop! Pop! Totally killing those giants!”

Beau demonstrated with her fists, almost hitting Yasha and blushing. Then she looked away sheepishly, her blush deepening. “I wish you had been there. It was cool.”

“It sounds like it was cool,” Yasha replied, smiling sadly. “I’m sorry I missed it. But I am here now, and we can make the most of this time here.”

Beau smiled, gazing into Yasha’s eyes. “Yeah.” She leaned up and pressed her lips to Yasha’s, who reciprocated the kiss. When Yasha pulled her head away, Beau pouted, pressing out her bottom lip until Yasha kissed her again. 

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Beau said, after Yasha pulled away again. 

Yasha wove her fingers in with Beau’s. “Why don’t we?”

Beau grinned. “You wouldn’t get bored of me?”

Yasha chuckled, shaking her head. “Never.”


	19. “Oh please, like this is the worst I have done.”

Caleb crossed his arms, ignoring the disapproving look coming his way from Nott.  “Oh please, like this is the worst I have done.”

“It’s not,” Nott conceded. “But I thought that we were better than this at this point.”

Caleb shrugged, looking away. At his feet rested a pile of bodies. Nott had protested when Caleb suggested they take them out, arguing that they hadn’t seen her and weren’t going to cause any harm. Yet Caleb had still decided he was going to kill them.

Over the course of their time together, they had done many immoral things, certainly. Nott was not above stealing, murder, and the like, but it still made her skin crawl when they killed people with no reason. Seeing how Caleb could compartmentalize his feelings, kill unscrupulously, it left her with a bad taste in her mouth. She had done any number of evil things in her lifetime, but she wanted to do better, and such things made that difficult. 

“Caleb.... There was no reason to kill them. They didn’t see me, they didn’t even know we were here. So why kill them?”

Again, Caleb shrugged, refusing to answer. 

Nott sighed, and began looting through the bodies. “This doesn’t work if I can’t trust you.”

Caleb perked up at that. “You  _can_ trust me, Nott. I was just trying to protect you.”

Nott gave him a pointed glance, a frown knitting its way through her brow. “They didn’t do  _anything_ , Caleb. We shouldn’t kill people who we don’t have to. We can’t just go around killing everyone we see and meet, that’s no way to survive.”

“I suppose you are right,” Caleb replied. His features softened, and he sat down on the ground next to her. “I do not mean to be like this, you know. I am still learning. I am trying to do better.”

“I know.” Nott ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of his eyes. “We’re working on it together. But just - I don’t know - try to remember that we don’t have to be killers all the time, okay?”

“Okay.”


End file.
